March 11, 2015. A group of delegates from Cuba’s Transport Ministry paid a visit to a number of Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s member enterprises, including ChTZ Uraltrac. According to the corporation’s press service, the visitors were shown one DET 400, a bulldozer with a hoist that can make a part of a recovery train. They also saw the entire range of the plant’s vehicles, from the already historic heavy-duty tractor T800 to the new loaders PK46 and PK65 to Class 10 and 15 bulldozers that could also be used by the Cuban railway services. The delegates were most impressed by TMV2, a car

March 11, 2015. Binbank bought 99.84% of Yekaterinburg-based Uralprivatbank’s shares; the issuer will be able to manage the shareholding starting from March 6, the two banks report. Binbank Board of Directors approved of a merger with Uralprivatbank, so the latter’s branches will now operate under the name of Binbank. The fact that the Moscow bank was going to acquire Uralprivatbank transpired in mid-January. The cost of the transaction has not been announced. As a result, Binbank will now run over ten branches in Sverdlovsk Region.

March 11, 2015. The import of goods from the far abroad into the country amounted to $22.9822bn in the first two months of 2015, which was 36.9% less than a year earlier, the Federal Tax Service reports. In fact, imports dropped by 33.8% in February 2015 alone; the import of food items decreased by 44.3%, that of textile products and footwear by 35.3%, that of machine-building produce by 33.5%, and that of chemical products by 26.3%. As for food imports, dairy products shrank the most, by 5.6 times; the import of fish dropped to a third of last year’s amount, that of sugar by 2.9 times, that

March 11, 2015. Electromachine Scientific & Production Association (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) was issued a license by Chelyabinsk Region Education & Science Ministry; the license means the company is allowed to offer vocational training and issue diplomas. According to the corporation’s press service, the company can now train students in twenty-six blue-collar specializations, including the jobs of an NPC mill operator, a mechanician, a turner, and a miller. ‘We have plenty of experience in the educational field: some 1,000 people undergo professional

March 11, 2015. 1,654 residents of Sverdlovsk Region submitted their declarations to the tax authorities in order to declare the income obtained from letting homes in 2014; in 2013, the figure was 1,498. The said residents paid 18.153m RUR worth of personal income tax last year, Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Tax Service’s press office says. ‘Following the tax authorities’ efforts to encourage private individuals to submit their declarations even past the deadline, 339 more people declared their income: this was twice as many as a year earlier,’ says head of the division’s

March 10, 2015. ChTZ Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) is going to add more exhibits to the military vehicles display at Victory Park in Chelyabinsk. According to the corporation’s press service, there are currently sixteen exhibits there, mainly various makes of tanks and SP guns from the war and post-war times. ‘Some of those, for example, ISU152, IS3, and T72, were either designed or made at Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ Uraltrac). The rest (T-34-85, T54, T62, and SU100) were produced elsewhere, yet all of the armored vehicles have ChTZ engines inside. This is

March 10, 2015. 44% of Russian businesses admit their financial situation has deteriorated, says the National Financial Research Agency based on a nation-wide survey. The crisis has affected micro-enterprises the most (they make up 50% of those for whom things went from bad to worse), as well as the companies that were set up before 1999 (46%). Approximately a third (32%) of managers surveyed feel their companies’ financial situation has remained the same, while 19% of respondents think their businesses are better off now than before. The rest of those surveyed said they were not sure.

March 10,2015. Pilot runs of the new mainline locomotive TG16M No.002, made at Lyudinovsky Locomotive Plant (a member enterprise of Sinara Transport Machines) began in Sakhalin, Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. The pilot run means the loco has to reach 20,000km mileage while actually transporting cargo; its traction figures must meet the declared parameters. The launching ceremony was attended by Russian and foreign media representatives, who came to Sakhalin to cover snow - and avalanche-fighting efforts of Sakhalin Railways. Sinara Transport Machines representative Valeriy Tolstov said at

March 10, 2015. Expert RA, a rating agency, affirmed Uralmash NGO Holding’s credit rating at A+ and changed the rating outlook from Stable to Negative, which means the rating is highly likely to go down in the medium term. The rating sublevel was demoted from the first to the third, the agency reports. The positive factors working toward the rating are the moderately high liquidity figures, independence from large customers and suppliers, low foreign currency risks, and expansive loan security options as well as diversified revenue sources, varying prime cost options offered by contractors,

March 10, 2015. Russian Copper Company is now contributing to Vasenin, a film dedicated to the celebrations of the 70th Victory Day, the company’s press service reports. ‘Vasenin is a documentary about the life and love of a Russian soldier, a Great Patriotic War veteran. The main character is played by the veteran, Nikolai M. Vasenin, himself. He joined the front in 1939, was heavily wounded near Minsk in July 1941 and taken prisoner of war. He survived a chain of POW camps and ended up in France, where he joined the Resistance troops, set up ‘the group of Nicolas’ and fell in love with

March 6, 2015. The number of claims Sverdlovsk Region residents laid against insurance companies rose by 43% last year, Chairman of Sverdlovsk Region Court Alexander Dementiev said at a press conference today. Dementiev explained most of the civil suits involving insurers had to do with third-party liability car insurance payments. In 2014, courts made insurance companies pay their plaintiffs 730m RUR altogether. Besides, the number of civil suits relating to unpaid housing bills went up by 30%in 2014. Sverdlovsk Region residents were obliged to pay a total of 1.3bn RUR worth of debts. In

March 6, 2015. The cost of life-saving medications at Sverdlovsk Region’s pharmacies rose by 4.3% since the start of the year, while other drugs became 7.9% more expensive, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department refers to Health Minister Arkadiy Belyavsky as saying. ‘An analysis of local prices indicates that these grew most for the least expensive medications in the under-fifty-rubles range. For example, the price of the widely popular antibacterial drug ceftriaxone rose from 17.25 RUR to 21.1 RUR per bottle (up 12.3%); the maximum retail price for the medicine was set

March 6, 2015. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) sold 20% more pipes in the last quarter of 2014 compared with Q3’14: the figure was 702,000,000 kg thanks to betters sales of weldless OCTGs and line pipes on the home market occasioned by growing seasonal demand. The company’s weldless OCTG sales rose by 12% compared with the previous quarter, TMK’s press service reports. Welded pipe sales increased by 11% compared with the third quarter of 2015 and reached 534,000,000 kg thanks to better LDP sales on the domestic market and better welded OCTG sales in the United States. Overall pipe sales rose

March 6, 2015. ChTPZ Group’s educational project called the Future of White Metallurgy and its charity theatre festival for children called Snezhnost won awards from the Social Projects Fund and were declared Russia’s best ones. The Fund’s annual Russia’s Best Social Projects Contest was set up to support the Russian Government’s strategy on improving social policy through public, private, and society’s partnerships. The Future of White Metallurgy aims to ensure an inflow of highly skilled young workers onto the country’s metallurgical plants; the project took off in 2011 thanks to the

March 6,2015. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) has saved 18m RUR after the lean manufacturing principles were introduced at the plant, the corporation’s press service reports. The company started switching to lean production in January 2014, and positive outcomes could be observed in early 2015. The money thus obtained was directed to meet the plant’s various needs. Lean manufacturing rests on the 5S system that is a basic, implementable way of rationally organizing one’s working space and working process. Out of the five steps of the 5S approach, namely,

March 5, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Executive Director Vladimir Roschupkin and Rector of Ural Federal University Viktor Koksharov signed a cooperation agreement on continuous education at Sverdlovsk Region Union of Industrialists & Employers Vocational Education & Labor Resources Committee meeting. Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service says that, according to the paper, the two parties will work together in the fields of education, science, production, successive training programs for tech workers, new educational technologies, and scientific research. Every year, Uralvagonzavod is to

March 5, 2015. Ural Airlines added a new Airbus 319 liner (VP-BJV) to its fleet of aircraft, the airline’s press service reports. ‘This is the sixth plane of the same make that we’ve got. It’s fitted with 134 seats, that is, 126 economy class ones and 8 business class ones. The new plane will be used for operating both international and domestic flights,’ the press service says. As their leasing contract expired in early 2015, Ural Airlines stopped operating one of its A320 aircraft, so the air carrier now has 34 liners altogether. The airline embarked on its fleet renovation program in 2006

March 5, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s inflation rate stood at 7% in February 2015 compared with December 2014 and at 16.9% compared with February 2014, Sverdlovskstat reports. Food items grew 9.9% more expensive against last December and 25.1% more expensive against last February, while the price of strong drinks rose by 2.9% and 13.9%, respectively. Non-foot items became, respectively, 5.7% and 11.8% more expensive and services became 6% and 15.7% costlier.

March 5, 2015. Tinkoff (TKS) Bank’s net profit (calculated in accordance with the IAS) plunged by 41% in 2014 and came to 3.4bn RUR against 5.8bn RUR a year earlier. The bank’s pre-tax profit amounted to 4.9bn RUR against 7.5bn RUR in 2013, the bank’s report states. The net interest income, however, rose by 15% and reached 30.8bn RUR, while the net interest margin decreased from 36.4% in 2013 down to 34.8% in 2014. The bank’s share of non-performing loans doubled over last year and amounted to 14.5% against 7% in 2013. In the last quarter of the year, the bank’s profit declined by 65%, down

March 5, 2015. Russian Vice Premier Dmitri Rogozin chaired a meeting of the 10th International Arms, Military Vehicles & Munitions RussiaArmsExpo 2015 Exhibition’s coordination committee at the Government House. According to the press service of Uralvagonzavod Corporation (the event’s general coordinator), Rogozin stressed in his opening address that the exhibition in Nizhniy Tagil was a large-scale and serious event, and every effort should be made to make sure it becomes a success. Deputy Industry & Trade Minister Alexander Potapov, who spoke on behalf of his department, presented a